Hepatitis C Prevention for People Who Inject Drugs

With over 30,000 infections reported in 2014 -- at least 70% of which occurred among people who inject drugs (PWID) -- and all the challenges that can come with HCV prevention, it can sometimes feel like infection is inevitable in people who inject drugs, but it doesn't have to be.

Hepatitis C virus is mainly transmitted from blood to blood contact when someone shares a syringe or other injecting equipment with someone infected with the virus. The gold standard of HCV prevention is using a new syringe and unused injection equipment each and every time you inject, and you never have to share anything. This is easier said than done: Sometimes you have no other option but to re-use a syringe. When faced with this situation, there are things you can do to help prevent infection.

The strategies given here also serve to prevent HIV. We are fortunate that there are some very thoughtful researchers who have looked are various ways to prevent HCV infection. Their work helps people make informed decisions over how to best minimize their risk for infection. The information in this article draws on this work, focusing on ways in which HCV can be transmitted through the sharing of injecting equipment, ways to kill HCV, and some practices that people who have been injecting drugs for a long time yet never got HCV do to stay negative. This is not an exhaustive review of safer injecting practices, for that we have a list of resources at the end of this article to help you learn more on the subject.

A word on preventing hepatitis C infection: There's a lot to think about in this article, and it can look so overwhelming as to feel like it's almost impossible to do all the things listed below. The principles of harm reduction will guide our work here--you do what you can, with no judgment around what you can't.

Advertisement

Safer Injecting: More Than Just the Syringe

The primary way in which HCV infection occurs is through the sharing of syringes: That's where the most blood is (especially in high dead-space syringes) and that is the most direct way for HCV to get into a person. That said, the sharing of other injecting equipment -- cookers, cotton, water -- can lead to HCV infection, too.

Hepatitis C can live for a while on surfaces and in injecting equipment ("works" like cookers, cotton, and water).

Syringes: The type of syringe matters. All syringes have a thing called "dead space," that is a small amount of space where fluid -- in this case blood -- remains even when the plunger if fully depressed. The dead space is also called a "void." You may be using low dead space (or low void) or high dead space (or high void) syringes when you inject. Ask your local syringe access program or pharmacy where you get syringes for specifics about the syringe you are getting, but in general, syringes with a fixed needle are low dead-space (low-void) and ones with a detachable needle are high dead-space (high-void). Low dead-space ones are easier to clean if you have to re-use them. If you're not sure what type of syringe you have, bleach works really well on either type. For other disinfectants, check out the instructions below for the number of times you need to use them and rinse and repeat to kill hep C.

Surfaces: The research on surfaces is on things like tables or counters. Wiping them down with a bleach or other cleaners will kill hep C. They haven't really studied how well you can disinfect a cooker, but cleaning it with bleach should be good enough to do the trick if you have to re-use one.

Water: If you get HCV-infected blood in water, it can contaminate the container it's in. The type of container matters: Plastic and aluminum can hold HCV-infected blood in its pores even if you dump out the water. If you place clean water back in that plastic or aluminum container, that water will get contaminated with hep C. Recycle the plastic or can and get a new one. Glass won't do this: If blood gets in the water of a glass container, dump the water, clean the glass with bleach and rinse it out well with soap and water and you'll be able to put in fresh water for use in drug prep.

Cotton: There's no way to disinfect cotton if it gets HCV-infected blood in it.

What Kills Hepatitis C: Bleach, Rubbing Alcohol, Dish Soap and More

If HCV is such a tough virus, is there anything that can kill it and reduce the chances for transmission? Researchers from Yale have looked at various disinfectants to see what works and what doesn't work. Bleach kills HCV nearly all the time, and there are other cleaners or disinfectants you can use, too, that also work against the virus.

Bleach: Bleach has been shown to kill HCV in more than 99% of contaminated syringes. There are many variables, though: How fresh is your bleach? How much blood is in the syringe? Research has shown that when you draw up the bleach and immediately rinse it out, you'll disinfect the syringe. If you see blood in the syringe, rinse it once with cold water to dilute the blood. After you've rinsed out the bleach, rinse the syringe thoroughly with cold water.

Over time, bleach can damage the syringe and needle, so ideally you don't have to use the same needle and bleach it over and over: After 20 rinses with bleach, there is a lot of damage to the syringe. Besides, the more you have to use a syringe, the duller the needle point becomes and the greater the risk for abscesses and damaged veins. Get a new, unused syringe as quickly as possible: Ideally, you just use one syringe (and other equipment) for each injection.

Alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and kitchen sink detergent (for example, Dawn Ultra) can kill HCV also, and are less damaging to the syringe. But they are all less effective than bleach, and require multiple rinses. They are good alternatives when an unused syringe or bleach are not available.

Alcohol and hydrogen peroxide: Rubbing alcohol (check the label for 70% isopropanol), hydrogen peroxide, and Lysol can kill HCV. Draw up alcohol, rinse, and repeat twice more for a total of three rinses. You can do the same with hydrogen peroxide and Lysol. The length of time doesn't seem to matter: You just have to do the draw-up, rinse, and repeat pattern three times.

Kitchen sink detergents (Dawn Ultra): Recent research has shown that common cleaning supplies, such as Dawn Ultra, can kill HCV. Put the liquid soap into some water to dilute it and make it easier to draw into the syringe. Rinse and repeat at least one more time. The length of time doesn't seem to matter: You just need to draw-up, rinse, and repeat the pattern three times.

Industrial-grade disinfectants should not be used. These include Barbicide (that blue stuff they use in barbershops and nail salons) as well as Cavicide and Clorox Quartanary Cleaner (both used in medical settings) that can be used on surfaces and for cleaning up blood spills, but should not be used in injecting or other drug-using equipment.

Wiping down surfaces where drug preparation and blood occur with bleach is also a good thing to do to avoid blood contact from surfaces.

(Please note: Your name and comment will be public, and may even show up in Internet search results. Be careful when providing personal information! Beforeadding your comment, please read TheBody.com's Comment Policy.)

TheBodyPRO is a service of Remedy Health Media, 461 Fifth Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10017. TheBodyPRO and its logos are trademarks of Remedy Health Media, LLC, and its subsidiaries, which owns the copyright of TheBodyPRO's homepage, topic pages, page designs and HTML code. General Disclaimer: TheBodyPRO is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services. The information provided through TheBodyPRO should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a substitute for professional care. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, consult your health care provider.